Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Acquires New Shares in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE)

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Celanese Co. (NYSE:CE) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 21,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. DT Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Celanese by 128.8% in the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 183 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Celanese by 103.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period. CKW Financial Group raised its holdings in Celanese by 52.9% in the 4th quarter. CKW Financial Group now owns 535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in Celanese by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 670 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Celanese by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,129 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.87% of the company’s stock.

Celanese Price Performance

Shares of Celanese stock opened at $54.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.17. Celanese Co. has a 1-year low of $52.97 and a 1-year high of $172.16. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $68.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.98.

Celanese (NYSE:CE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The basic materials company reported $1.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.36 billion. Celanese had a net margin of 10.40% and a return on equity of 13.17%. On average, equities analysts predict that Celanese Co. will post 8.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Celanese Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 25th will be paid a dividend of $0.03 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 25th. This represents a $0.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.22%. Celanese’s dividend payout ratio is 28.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CE. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Celanese from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Celanese from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $165.00 to $115.00 in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Celanese to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $73.00 to $76.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Celanese from $120.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.00.

Celanese Profile

Celanese Corporation, a chemical and specialty materials company, manufactures and sells high performance engineered polymers in the United States and internationally. It operates through Engineered Materials and Acetyl Chain. The Engineered Materials segment develops, produces, and supplies specialty polymers for automotive and medical applications, as well as for use in industrial products and consumer electronics.